starcraftfandomcom-20200213-history
Earth
United Earth Directorate (2499/2500—) |population=c.2000 – Est. 6 billion+ humans c.2301 – Est. 23 billion+ humans |capital= |settlements= |platforms= |imports= |exports= |status=UED capital world }} Earth is the terran homeworld, often referred to as "Old Earth".Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Armory units (in English). 2010.Grubb, Jeff (February 27, 2001). StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-671-04148-7. History Humanity developed an international power structure defined by military superiority, as well as the acquisition of capital.Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. The Decline of Western Civilization During the twentieth century, the development and exchange of technology and culture spread rapidly. By the end of the twenty-first century, radical new technologies offered increased access to advanced computers and informational databases to even the most destitute nations. Communism was eradicated from the eastern nations and nuclear weapons quickly became available in abundance. Third-world nations rose to challenge the economic and military might of the world's superpowers, blasting apart the international power structure. Militant humanist factions and hard-line religious groups challenged the rights of private interest corporations who profited from genetic experimentation as cybernetics, cloning and gene-splicing rose steadily into the public forum. Many of the fundamental humanist factions panicked as multitudes of people were were augmented with cybernetic implants while others manifested slight physical mutations ranging from heightened senses to advanced telepathy. As technology continued to evolve and spread, world leaders sought ways to stem the growth of their nation's inhabitants. Despite this, Earth's population grew to an estimated twenty-three billion by 2301. Pollution and a lack of natural resources and affordable fuels added to the fire. As overpopulation and genetic alteration swept across Earth, popular sentiment held that it was plummeting towards an inevitable catastrophe. Many core international economic systems folded in upon themselves and shut down as tensions rose regarding the use and capitalization of cybernetics and genetic mutations. Acts of terrorism and violence erupted between the corporate sector and the humanist factions, resulting in forced police actions across Earth. Civil chaos was already rampant in many of the larger countries, but media coverage of the police actions spurred it. The precarious balance of world power ultimately exploded into international pandemonium. The United Powers League On November 22, 2229, the United Powers League was founded upon the basis of 'enlightened socialism'. It accomplished that which the now defunct United Nations never could by unifying humanity. The UPL encompassed and controlled close to ninety-three percent of Earth's population, failing to bring order only to a few volatile countries in South America. The UPL often resorted to fascist police actions to maintain the public order. With its control lasting for nearly eighty years, the UPL sought to unify the various cultures of humanity. It went to great lengths to eradicate the last vestiges of racial separatism and designated English as the common language of Earth, banning many ancient languages in their native countries. The Unitariate Commissions officially banned religions, but the UPL held an almost zealous belief in the supposed 'divinity of mankind', which called for the immediate eradication of any non-vital prosthetics or mutations amongst the pure-strain human gene pool. Hard-line UPL proponents and scholars argued that genetic alteration, cyber technology, and the use of psychoactive drugs all led to humanity's eventual degeneration. The UPL leaders set Project Purification in motion. UPL troops scoured every nation, rounding up dissidents, hackers, synthetics, the cybernetically enhanced, tech-pirates and criminals of every kind. Nearly four hundred million people were executed, but the world-media was under the UPL's strict control and downplayed the violence, keeping the general populace of Earth unaware. The UPL reopened fields of research that had lain dormant for decades, including the American and Russian space exploration programs which had previously been abandoned due to drastically reduced budgets and incessant political sabotage. After the ability to travel through warp space was developed, Doran Routhe used his political connections and personal fortune to secure fifty-six thousand prisoners that were slated for mass execution under the edict of Project Purification. The prisoners were transported to Routhe's private laboratories, where the forty thousand who were deemed viable to survive the rigorous conditions of long-term cryogenic hibernation were loaded onto four supercarriers and launched toward Gantris VI, but they veered off course and crash-landed in the Koprulu sector. The UPL recorded their every move, content to observe them without directly interfering in their affairs.Underwood, Peter, Chris Metzen and Bill Roper. StarCraft: Brood War (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. The United Earth Directorate The discovery of the protoss and the zerg in December 2499 caused widespread panic throughout the UPL and brought the dissident countries into its fold, thus expanding its powers and causing it to be renamed the 'United Earth Directorate'. The UED bent all of its considerable resources towards studying the aliens and their maneuverings and spent the next several months monitoring them, gathering data on their strengths and weaknesses. In 2500, the ruling council of the UED received word that a new Overmind was growing on Char and formed an expeditionary force under Admiral Gerard DuGalle with orders to enslave the Overmind. Before leaving Earth, every member of the expeditionary force was briefed on their objective to conquer the Koprulu sector.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: First Strike (in English). 1998. News of their defeat reached EarthBlizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Cinematic: The Ascension (in English). 1998. shortly before the fleet was eradicated.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Level/area: Epilogue (in English). 1998. Due to the infestation of UED personnel, including Alexei Stukov, the zerg are aware of Earth's current status and have determined its location for future infestation. For now, though, the zerg are focused on the Koprulu Sector.Blizzard Entertainment. 2012-12-03. StarCraft II Creative Development Q&A - Part 7. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2012-12-03. Locations Earth is divided into seven continents, locations of note including: *Africa *Antarctica *Asia **Japan *Europe **Aegean Sea **Germany **Italy ***Rome ***Venice **Russia *North America **United States of America *Oceania *South America Notes Earth will not play a role in StarCraft II.Chris Metzen, Brian Kindregan, StarCraft Legacy staff. 2010-10-23. BlizzCon 2010 StarCraft II Lore Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2010-10-25. Chris Metzen and others at Blizzard have toyed with the image of the zerg invading and the mass destruction that would cause, but it is not an idea the story development team are set to explore in the immediate future.2011-10-22, BlizzCon 2011 - Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm - Campaign and Lore Panel (Full). YouTube, accessed on 2011-11-07 Earth's population crisis (such as reaching 23 billion by 2301) was explored in The Real Science of StarCraft II. Dr. Charles A. Hall considered this to be a difficult, if not impossible figure to reach. He pointed out that peak oil has been reached and that there is only so much land available for agriculture. A shortage of resources, as experienced by Earth in the 22nd century, would theoretically lead to a decline in population rather than continued growth.Groen, Andrew. The Real Science of StarCraft II. (July 26, 2010). Gamepro. The Real Science of StarCraft II Accessed 2010-12-09 References Category: Planets Category: Terrans Category:United Earth Directorate worlds